Bullied Tehachapi gay teen Seth Walsh dies after suicide attempt

Seth Walsh was an ordinary everyday kid who just wanted to live his life except there were cruel kids around him who won’t let him. Why you ask? Walsh was a young gay kid and there were kids that would not stop tormenting him while school officials ignored the problem despite being aware of the bullying.

Walsh as s 13-year-old student at the Jacobsen Middle School in Tehachapi, Kern County, California. On September 19, Walsh hanged himself from a tree in his backyard. Walsh did not die immediately and was discovered and taken to a hospital where he was placed in life support critical care.

Seth Walsh from Tehachapi, California finally died Tuesday afternoon after clinging on life support for nine days.

During the investigation many students acknowledged that Seth Walsh was in distress due to bullying over a long period of time because Walsh was gay. In spite of an anti-bullying program mentioned by school, the school officials nor the school board (more on the politically inept school board later) didn’t intervene to stop the bullying and mental torture of Seth Walsh. It’s ironic that the principal of the Jacobsen Middle School Susan Ortega proudly claims that she has a B.A. in Child and Family Crisis. Apparently Seth Walsh was a crisis Ortega did not see.

Police investigated and interviewed Jacobsen Middle School staff and students regarding the death of Seth Walsh but found that the no crime was committed and there would be no charges in the death of Seth Walsh.

Walsh’s friends did a video for him while he was on life support.

Seth Walsh, may you rest in peace. As far as the principal and staff in Tehachapi Jocobsen Middle School are concerned, I hope everyone there has learned a lesson to listen for cries of help. Listening and acting on bullying could be a matter of life or death.

The death of Seth Walsh is the third recent incident of suicide due to anti-gay bullying in schools. Asher Brown, 13, of Texas and Billy Lucas, 15 of Indiana also committed suicide due to bullying.